Ian flies the world

Crossing the mighty Pacific Ocean

14 May 1992 Air New Zealand 1 London Gatwick to Los Angeles,
Business

For the third time, we will take the Pride of the Pacific
across the Atlantic. Before we do, it's time to check in. The
amount of baggage we have has by now reached nightmare
proportions. I cannot be sure, but perhaps eight pieces of
checked luggage, five of which have just been retrieved from
London Euston left luggage office, one from London Victoria Red
Star office, containing items we had left behind at our last
port of call. Together we struggled to get this lot up the
stairs and escalator to the Central London Air Terminal and
waited to check in. All passengers to the United States had to
report to security and clear baggage first. We did that and then
collected our boarding passes and First Class tickets on the
Gatwick Express. After that, we took our time before going to
the airport, before going through the security checks there and
boarding the flight. With everybody in good health but very
tired, I cannot think of much to say about the long flight to
Los Angeles. Air New Zealand offers a good service which lacks
any motivation for criticism. The food on this sector was, so
far as I remember, the first on a long-haul flight which I have
ever consumed in its entirety. Whether this reflects good food
or hunger I cannot say.

Immigration and customs were as usual. After that, it was
time to negotiate the wilds of Los Angeles streets, where we
caught the Airport Shuttle to Anaheim. We were to spend five
days in Anaheim at Disneyland, a place which would be of much
more appeal to a three year old child than it had been two years
earlier. I can recommend the Ramada Maingate Hotel, although
there are obviously many more just as good in the area. Los
Angeles had suffered street riots in the weeks leading up to our
visit, but we saw no evidence of any damage at all while we were
there.

I recall the Liverpool riots of 1981, which were in a very
small area, yet resulted in people in Africa who had heard news
that Liverpool was burning from end to end telephoning people
about thirty kilometres away from the riots to check that they
were safe.

To return to Anaheim, our impressions of Disneyland were
different in a longer visit. We enjoyed Disneyland very much on
our first visit, and now had two children. One was now almost
three years and the other almost one year. Our sons, it seemed,
would be at the age where Disneyland appeals. I suspect that
with the right frame of mind, it appeals to everybody in some
way, if only they can put aside any prejudices they have. As I
mentioned in 1990, there is so much more than the characters. It
is very hard to do justice to the place in a few lines or even a
few pages, and to do more than that would lead to a very uneven
narrative of my journeys. Those who dislike the cartoon
characters should avoid Fantasyland. Those who dislike the
United States would do well to walk briskly up Main Street USA.
There are views and rides for all, but a book about the place
would be better for you than my thoughts here. One day, I hope
to have visited all four of the Disneyland theme parks, in
Orlando, Tokyo, Anaheim and outside Paris.

19 May 1992 Air New Zealand 5 Los Angeles to Auckland,
Business

Travelling to the airport and back to the real world, it
was already quite late, and after we had checked in, we were
again grateful for the Club Pacific lounge at Los Angeles. It
still offered vast choice of cheese, biscuits, soft and hard
drinks and juices. Cranberry juice is almost unobtainable
outside the United States, we are told. It is, however, well
worth drinking, and above all is supposed to be very good for
you.

Again the flight tells its own story by my silence.
Overnight flights never have much to say, especially the good
ones. After breakfast, we arrived in Auckland, which was not
hot, as one might say. Travelling again to the Auckland City
Travelodge, the journey was as we might expect, but colder. The
only slight hiccup we encountered was that they had no record of
our reservation. Fortunately, we did. We were put in a room
straight away, and very grateful we were too. Furthermore,
having arrived just after 7a.m., we were not charged for the
night just gone. This was good news for us. The next two nights
we did spend there, and they were as good as any, considering
the problems jet-lag has to offer. It didn't stop us going to
some swings and to McDonalds on the United Airlines bus. This
time we weren't to visit Kelly Tarlton's, however. The following
day went on a coach trip to Waitomo caves, a natural wonder of
New Zealand, where many thousands of glow-worms light up an
otherwise dark underwater cavern. That doesn't sound much, but
you should see what it's like before you judge. We didn't do
much more except eat and sleep before it was time to go back to
Vanuatu.

23 May 1992 Air Vanuatu 52 Auckland to Port Vila, Business

Having arranged a minibus to take us to the airport, there
seemed to be little problem possible. Air Vanuatu check-in
desks, we are told in all the leaflets, are to be found in the
part of the terminal looked after by Air New Zealand, so it was
here we were dropped off. One desk had the Air Vanuatu logo, and
below it in lights were the words Check in at Qantas. So it was
a bit like Hong Kong, and we trailed across the terminal to find
the right place for checking in. The Qantas area had many check-
in desks, but only two of them were for Air Vanuatu. Not being
one keen to stand in long queues, I asked one of the Qantas
officials where the Air Vanuatu Business Class check-in was
located. He said that I could check in at his desk, and after a
few keys on the keyboard we were furnished with our boarding
passes as our luggage disappeared. As a bonus which I hadn't
been expecting, he gave us invitations to the Air New Zealand
lounge. Why he did this is not clear: we were not travelling
with Air New Zealand and there is no formal arrangement between
the two carriers. It seems most likely that we had been
identified as regular Air New Zealand customers.

Whatever the reason, here was our chance to find out about
the lounge which has been praised so highly by so many people. I
found it quite average. It is a large lounge with a good view of
the departure gates, but frankly has little to mark it out as
special. Of course it is large: it is a major airline's major
lounge. This does not in itself make it good. The supply of
drinks is good: the supply of food is not. I do not put it in
the same category as the Club Lounge at London Gatwick, nor in
the same category as the Air New Zealand lounge at Los Angeles.

Soon, it was time to board the flight, so we did. Business
Class was again fairly empty: apart from my family there were
two other passengers in the cabin, both known to me as friends
from Vanuatu, both employed in the aviation business and
consequently not paying the full fare. It made for an
interesting flight, and was also the first one since the outward
journey on the same route on which we were able to visit the
flight deck.

Before too much more time had passed, it was time to
return to the earth. Vanuatu from the air is a beautiful sight,
especially when it is home. Even so, it takes time to clear
immigration and customs, but when we had done so, we were again
met by friends. Friends count for a great deal for expatriates,
because the family and other previous friends are such a long
way away. Twelve thousand miles is reckoned to be the figure.
Since last seeing our friends in Vanuatu, however, we had flown
a total of twenty-nine thousand, one hundred and seventy-five
miles.